[Event Coverage] The Queen has arrived in Chicago

An event produced by KPOPME, the women empowering Kim Hyun A, performed on the stages of Chicago on March 1st at the Vic Theatre as part of her first North American tour.

Hyun A is a well-known Korean artist from CUBE Entertainment and a member of the former group, 4Minute. She has proven herself relentlessly over the years that she is a Queen B with her jaw-dropping dance moves, vocals, and sharp rap. She has established herself to be a one-of-a-kind solo female artist within the Korean music industry, as well as globally, and is continuing to do so.

Prism Kru, a co-ed dance group based in the heart of Chicago, opened Hyun A’s concert with a dance cover of “어때? (How’s this?)“. The nine members destroyed the stage as they showed off the Hyun A-style choreography for the crowd.

Moments later, the lights died down and an introduction video began to play at the front of the stage. Hyun A appeared on the screen, entering through a heavy fog and strutting around fiercely, causing loud fanboy and fangirl alike screams. With the words, “Now you see the queen.” and Hyun A posing at the end, the video blacked out and red lights radiated the stage.

Four back-up dancers entered the stage swiftly from each side, performing their own bit before Hyun A walked out in a simple, yet stunning black dress with thigh-high boots to perform “잘나가서 그래 (Roll Deep)”,featuring Illhoon of BTOB.

Once the song was over, the back-up dancers exited the stage, and the out-of-breath Hyun A walked to the center where she introduced herself to her fans called A-ing. Hyun A then talked about how she worried about the weather because it snowed so much, but went on to say that even though it was cold outside, she wanted to have a hot time with fans that night.

Hyun A then invited the host, Shimmy (known as the YouTuber, Shimmycocopuffsss), onto the stage with her. She started to explain that since she could see everyone’s faces clearly during her performances, she felt their powerful energy. The host proceeded to ask Hyun A if she was liking Chicago so far, and in response, Hyun A told everyone that she did.

The talk session also consisted of HyunA mentioning the stops she already did and would be going to for her North American tour. Her first stop began in Vancouver on February 22nd, following Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, New York, Dallas, San Francisco, and her finale show in Los Angeles on March 10th.

Next, Hyun A walked back and forth on the stage to pose for pictures. Everyone quickly took out their phones and snapped dozens of photos of their beloved Queen B.

With the crowd riled up from Hyun A’s fan service, the host followed up by asking what the next song would be in which Hyun A expressed that it was her cute and sexy song, “Ice Cream”. Hyun A also performed “French Kiss” shortly after.

Later on, Shimmy came back out to the stage and chatted some more, while Hyun A told her fans how thankful she was that they knew the lyrics and sung along to all of her performances so far.

The Q&A session was next on the list. Little colorful sticky notes filled the board on stage with fun questions written by Chicago A-ings. One of the first questions were, “Have you tried Chicago pizza?”. In reply, Hyun A said that she hadn’t, but had saved a piece from when the staff had some to eat later at her hotel due to the fact that she had to wear a tight dress and wanted to show the best side of herself to the fans. A-ings “aww’ed”, sympathizing with Hyun A for not being able to eat Chicago pizza just yet. HyunA then told everyone in English, “I’m okay.” and mentioned that she liked her fans more than pizza anyway, causing people to melt into puddles of goo.

From Hyun A recommending which Korean foods to eat such as kimchi pancakes, to revealing that Jessi is a celebrity that Hyun A is closest with, to Hyun A wanting to stop time as a superpower- fans enjoyed every split second of learning more about the lovely Kim Hyun A from the Q&A session.

Shimmy then took a couple of personal questions from the audience. Fans waved their arms furiously and aimlessly to grab ahold of Hyun A’s attention. They didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity to have their own questions answered by Hyun A herself.

One fan who was closer to the stage asked Hyun A if he looked cute and Hyun A agreed without hesitation. The last fan asked if he could give Hyun A a gift, throwing a t-shirt to the stage where Hyun A opened it to reveal a fan art picture of herself. She bowed and thanked him sincerely. Upon noticing, Hyun A looked at her t-shirt in her hands and back at what the fan was wearing until realizing and saying, “Ahh, couple t-shirt?”. Surely, the fanboy was more than happy that he could now share the same couple item with Hyun A.

The lights then turned off before a slow and enchanting beat revealed to be Hyun A’s next song “A Talk”,followed by “U & Me”.

After the two songs ended, Hyun A hurried off stage and another video appeared at the front of the stage’s screen. Fans jumped up and down, screamed their heads off, and anything else you could imagine if you were in the shoes of a fan as the video played Hyun A’s history throughout her years as a soloist.

Epic red and purple lights flashed in all directions on stage, making a grand entrance for Hyun A who came out in a new outfit consisting of a black crop top embroidered with roses, black skinny jeans, and killer heels that would make it hard for anyone to walk in, let alone dance.

Hyun A then performed her carefree and upbeat song, “빨개요 (Red)” for the audience.

Next, came one of the most highly-anticipated parts of the event which was the interaction between Hyun A and Chicago A-ings. Fans were chosen one-by-one to either receive gifts or play a game on stage with HyunA.

During the interaction session, two fangirls were chosen to play a game where they had to match answers with Hyun A by shouting (without knowing the other’s thought). In the end, both fangirls each won a personalized kissed polaroid thanks to Hyun A who cutely whispered the answers into the fans’ ears during the game. Who said you couldn’t cheat, especially if you’re Hyun A?

Another wonderful moment for A-ings included five fans who were unknowingly picked to dance on stage to impress Hyun A. Although they weren’t expecting a dance-off, the five fans brought their A-game and pleased Hyun A nonetheless as they danced to short snippets of “잘나가서 그래 (Roll Deep)” and “Bubble Pop!”. Ultimately, one fanboy caught Hyun A’s attention and he was able share the stage with her to “어때? (How’s this?)“.

The concert was coming to a close, but Hyun A still had a few more things left to do before taking off for the night. Despite sweating and working hard, Hyun A continued to entertain A-ings with her debut song “Change”, followed by “꼬리쳐 (Freaky)”.

Unfortunately, this was when the good things had to end, but Hyun A went the extra mile for fans by insisting that since she didn’t know when she’d be back, she’d like to take a group photo for memory.

With much thoughtfulness, Hyun A politely instructed the staff to turn the lights on the balcony so that fans up there could be seen in the group picture. Hyun A then kneeled down and made a heart pose for one shot, while standing up and stretching her limbs out proudly to show off her fans behind of her for the second shot.

Shimmy, the host, asked Hyun A for the last time what her future plans were. Hyun A replied that she still had other cities to perform in North America, and once she was done touring, she would go back to South Korea. A-ings disagreed with her going back, but Hyun A sweetly said that she would just prepare her next album in Chicago, causing fans to have a heart attack and wishing for it to come true.

Hyun A then talked about how she appreciated the time she spent with A-ings in Chicago and how their support will help her prepare for her future album. As for the final performance, Hyun A prepared her most recent title track, “어때? (How’s this?)“.

After the final song, the lights within the Vic Theatre turned back on and fans showed disappointment that the show was now over, but their hopelessness soon faded away as “Bubble Pop!” blasted overhead. Fans were excited that the concert didn’t end yet and that they still had more time to spend with Hyun A.

Hyun A immediately came out just as excited as A-ings were and sat on the edge of the stage to be more intimate with her fans. She then got up and handed out some roses during the performance, and gave her last of fan service as she waved and blowed multiple flying kisses before exiting the stage.

Afterwards, the lucky fans who bought a tier 1, 2, or 2.5 ticket had the chance to either hi-touch Hyun A or take a group photo with her.

Although A-ings didn’t want the night to ever end, they now knew that the queen was back.

Lastly, we at K-popped! would like to thank CUBE Entertainment and KPOPME for giving us the opportunity to take part of Hyun A’s North American Tour 2017: The Queen’s Back.